The quickest way for a parent to get a child's attention is to sit down and look comfortable.

Archive for the ‘Crafts & Sewing’ Category

As I was surfing the net the other day I came across this really cute tutorial and just have to share. This would make a very cute set for a daughter/granddaughter or whomever…a wonderful item to make for Christmas. I know I am already thinking about next years gifts…are you?

I am in the process of making 4 dresses. One for each of my young ladies. This is dress #1, prepared for little E. The dress is made of cotton, lined in poly satin. Zippered back with eye-hook at the top. Love the fabric and the blue really lights up her eyes! I did go by a bought pattern for this dress but altered the size. It was intended for a size 3 or larger, I altered it to a size 2 and made my own flower for the front. I made it detachable…that way it doesn’t get crushed in the wash…and it makes it that much easier when I go to iron the dress. This dress hits about 2″ below her knees. I thought about making it shorter but the way she sits and plays…longer is better.

Had to add this picture. I love it in B&W. Isn’t she adorable? The first picture was taken shortly after this when she dropped the horse and looked back at me with those big eyes. Uh, Oh….she said.

Well, back to the sewing machine. I am already working on dress #2 for big E. 🙂

I never know what my kids are going to spring on me. After everyone was in bed last night, J (my 13 yr old) comes in and says “Mom, I don’t have anything green to wear.” (She wore her green shirt yesterday…what was she thinking?) “Please…will you make me a hat? A little top hat would be perfect.”(This is after she asks me…”can you make me a shirt?” In an hour? No way…and no, I will not stay up all night either. haha)

So….at it I went this morning. I got this little hat made in about 45 min. 🙂 After she got it on she said “I look stupid”..but she still wore it to school. LOL. I know C. wanted to take it from her. She was asking “Where’s mine?” Give me more warning…!! 🙂 She said “OK, for my birthday then.” I guess I will be making at least one more hat in the near future.

Hope everyone has a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day! May the Luck of the Irish be with you!

I just love this apron! Elastic around the neck, so there are no ties getting tangled in her hair, hand towel…for all those little messes, and a cute little pocket in case she needs to hold a pen or whatever else. 🙂 This would be great made with Cars or Cowboys for my little man. Will have to get to work on that.

If you would like one custom made for your little one, just let me know what fabric patterns you want…(this will vary the cost, depending on how specific you want to get.) Also comes in Reversible – customizable as desired! Apron as shown is $25.00

I can also make matching Mommy & Me aprons!

Thank you for looking. All items come from a smoke free, pet free home.

I have been out of it for most of the month due to sickness in my home as well as a case of “lazy bones”. LOL. I will be posting some things that I am working on soon. As for today, I wanted to share something from another great blogger. Love, love, love this table runner….

Sherri did an awesome job on this. It is simple but very pretty! You can check out her tutorial here.

With the cold permeating my very being, I have been trying to come up with ways to have more fun inside our home. I came across this idea for a fabric playhouse and just have to share. With only a table and some cloth (and a few minor things) you can make a charming playhouse for you little ones. There are a couple of ways I found to do this. Actually more than a couple..lol…but, I am going to share a few ideas…mainly the one I like the most, which is my own combination of different ideas. 🙂

1. This way will work for any shape table.

Measure the height of your table from the inside ledge to the floor. This will be the width of your fabric. Measure the length of the inside ledge of your table. This will be the length of your fabric. (Two times the length around the table for fuller gathers looks good if you are using patterned fabric.) Using different fabrics on every side is ok too. Get creative….if you have a boy and girl, one side could be in a princess fabric and the other with cars or trains.

Hem edges of fabric. Sew the fabric into a blanket binding, then attach the soft part of the velcro to the binding. The prickly part of the velcro is stuck (This can be reinforced with a staple gun, screws or whatever your creative mind can come up with.) to the inside edge of the table all the time, and when you want to play clubhouse, you just velcro the skirt on.

If you are going with muslin (an inexpensive cotton cloth), I would recommend cutting the cloth only the length around the inside of your table. This way it hangs straight down. You can add windows, etc..as you choose. If using muslin, wash and dry the fabric to preshrink it. You can create a window by cutting out three sides of a square panel(draw this on..wherever you want your window) leave top attached. Add two adhesive-backed velcro dots to the outside of the tent just above the window. Roll up the window, and add the matching dots to the roll to hold the window in place. Make a roll-up door using the same technique.

You can make a changeable sign for your playhouse by attaching a clear pocket protector to the house’s side with Velcro dots. Slip in a paper sign and change out as you change play. Is it a pet shop today? Or maybe..a Firehouse or Castle? Oh….Santa’s Workshop! Your playhouse can be anything you want it to be. If using a plain fabric, you can decorate your tent easily with fabric markers. If you like to applique ..you could do wonders with that.

2.This idea works great if you have a card table or something similar.

If you would rather not do any sewing, or very little….you can make a playhouse using muslin that covers your table and hangs off of the sides. Muslin comes in several widths up to 10′ wide. If your table isn’t too big…you wouldn’t need to sew at all just measure your table width, depth and height. Cut out corners and lay over your table. Decorate as desired!

3. I would recommend a card table for this project as well.

If you like to work with felt…you can use the same, over the table concept to create you playhouse. (Although you will have to sew your pieces together…felt doesn’t come in that big of pieces. Then decorate with more felt! There are a lot of ideas to work with using felt. Check out felt table playhouses on Etsy for more ideas.

I hope this helps you to have a little more fun out of the weather. Let me know if you need any help with making your own! Also, when not in use…a drawstring bag comes in handy to store it. These would also make wonderful Christmas gifts!

What happened to your favorite sweater? Does it have a hole in it? Did it shrink in the wash? There are so many things that can happen and then what do you do with it? Toss it out?….NO!

Re-purposing our clothing not only saves us money on things that we can use but it also saves our landfills. Did you know that 5% of all landfill production is textile waste? Approximately 12 million tons of textile waste is generated each year in North America amounting to approximately 68 lbs of waste per household per year! WOW!

So, to do my part, I am trying new things! I have never liked to throw things away so re-purposing is great. For my latest project I used an old sweater given to me by my friend..who is a great crafter and blogger herself. You can check out a little of her craftiness at http://www.bosssanders.com/category/crafty/.

I took my sweater and cut a 10″x14″ piece out of the front. I cut a piece of satin the same size for the back and a matching 1″ strip. I then took approx. 2″ off of the bottom of the back of my sweater. So I had a 2″x 20″ piece. This I used for my flower.

To make you flower simply sew a seam with a wide width along the raw edge of your 2″ strip. Then gather by gently pulling one side of the thread. Then make a flower, sewing through the bottom as you make it so that it will “stay put”.
I sewed my 1″ strip of satin onto my pillow with a decorative stitch and added my flower. Sew the flower on by going through the center of the flower several times. If you feel like it needs a little more stability..you can use a glue gun as well.
Lay front and back with right sides together and sew. Leave a small hole at the bottom of your pillow. Pull inside out, stuff with poly fill and hand stitch closed.